Shmurah Matzah
Shmurah means that it has been watched very carefully. (Shomrim are watchmen. On a ship we have a watch. A caring and careful manager says "not on my watch.")
Shmurah indicates the whole process of making matzah has been watched by careful and caring people to make sure that no opportunity for fermenting took place. Even the wheat in the fields are watched to make sure the wheat field never received rain or watering from the time the wheat kernels were ripe until they were harvested.
The eighteen 18 minutes written on the box is the allowed time for matzah baking, from start to finish. It means the time from when waiter is mixed with the flour, until the matzah baking is completed is less than 18 minutes. That means no fermenting had time to occur, and the matzah didn't even begin to rise!!! The holes punched in matzah are there to make sure any trapped air can get out so not even an appearance of rising is likely. (The joke is that since matzah never breaks along a line of holes, so aircraft wings should have lines of holes. ;)
For three years running I have found a box. Before that, one year my eldest son baked some for us in Jerusalem, and it reached us in time.
Shmurah matzah is not required. But it is very satisfying to me to feel that someone cared enough to watch out for us and our spiritual welfare. it's one of life's delights.
IMG_1774_2
Shmurah Matzah
Shmurah means that it has been watched very carefully. (Shomrim are watchmen. On a ship we have a watch. A caring and careful manager says "not on my watch.")
Shmurah indicates the whole process of making matzah has been watched by careful and caring people to make sure that no opportunity for fermenting took place. Even the wheat in the fields are watched to make sure the wheat field never received rain or watering from the time the wheat kernels were ripe until they were harvested.
The eighteen 18 minutes written on the box is the allowed time for matzah baking, from start to finish. It means the time from when waiter is mixed with the flour, until the matzah baking is completed is less than 18 minutes. That means no fermenting had time to occur, and the matzah didn't even begin to rise!!! The holes punched in matzah are there to make sure any trapped air can get out so not even an appearance of rising is likely. (The joke is that since matzah never breaks along a line of holes, so aircraft wings should have lines of holes. ;)
For three years running I have found a box. Before that, one year my eldest son baked some for us in Jerusalem, and it reached us in time.
Shmurah matzah is not required. But it is very satisfying to me to feel that someone cared enough to watch out for us and our spiritual welfare. it's one of life's delights.
IMG_1774_2